Mobile advertising continues to gain strength
Alistair Hill, CEO of On Device Research, says it’s the brands who seek to interact with customers through targeted rich media mobile advertising who are the ones most likely to achieve maximum cut through…
With 5.9 billion global mobile subscribers and an ever-increasing demand for web-enabled devices, the mobile has become a powerful advertising tool for brands. This trend will continue as we move towards a mobile only internet society.
A recent report by On Device Research revealed that in the UK, 25% of mobile web users exclusively access the internet through web-enabled mobile devices and not computers. When you look at developing economies this figure increases, in China 38% are ‘mobile only’ and in Nigeria the figure stands at 56%.
It’s not surprising, then, that mobile ad spend is seeing continual growth. Recent figures released by the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) revealed that advertising on mobile devices increased 157% in 2011, as advertisers look for new ways to drive awareness and engagement. However, as users can become overloaded with communication messages, it’s the brands who seek to interact with customers through targeted rich media mobile advertising who are the ones most likely to achieve maximum cut through.
A study conducted by On Device Research for Sparkler and the IAB looking at brand effectiveness, highlights that rich media has a deeper brand impact versus static mobile advertising. When prompted, respondents exposed to the ‘rich’ expandable banner in the test were 25% more likely to remember the rich media advertising than those who saw the static advert. The study also found the rich media advert to be more eye-catching. Furthermore the study revealed that when targeting specific demographics, rich media is particularly effective with males and the 18-34 and 45+ age groups.
Sending advertising messages at key times of day is also an important consideration. A further study by On Device Research, again on behalf of Sparkler and the IAB, found that mobile media usage peaks between 7-9pm, when 67% of people are at home and mostly likely to be feeling relaxed. The most popular mobile activities are connecting with friends through social networking sites (24%) checking e-mail (23%) and watching entertainment content (11%). Being relaxed and having time to consume content presents a perfect advertising and branding opportunity.
While consumers are at home, they are mostly likely to be connecting on their mobile via WiFi – a snapshot of weekday traffic provided by Adfonic shows that Wi-Fi had over 80% share of clicks between 7-9pm. Wi-Fi delivers a faster desktop-like browsing experience on mobile devices and tablets, which delivers superior mobile internet speeds, allowing mobile rich media advertising to deliver a better advertising experience for consumers.
Mobile is becoming an increasingly important channel to communicate effectively with an audience, especially as we move towards a ‘mobile only’ society. Through a greater understanding of mobile consumer behaviour and using the possibilities of rich media, brands can begin to successfully utilise the mobile channel to engage audiences.
On Device Research uses the mobile internet to gain access to consumer opinions at any time, place or country. Since its launch in 2010, it has commissioned one million surveys to respondents across 53 countries. If you have any questions for On Device Research or would like to sign up to their mailing list to receive monthly reports please e-mail: info@ondeviceresearch.com